UFC light heavyweight fighter Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader is scheduled to face Antonio Rogerio Lil Nog’ Nogueira as part of the upcoming September 25th UFC 119 event in Indiana. Bader respects Nogueira’s fight skills including his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but he strongly feels that ‘Lil Nog’ lacks a good wrestling base. ‘Darth’ believes that his wrestling experience and his ability to scramble will give him the edge throughout the fight. If the wrestling doesn’t kick in, he still feels he has that knockout power to put away Nogueira early in the bout.
From Ryan Bader:
“I think my wrestling and my ability to scramble. Lil’ Nog had some trouble with Jason Brilz primarily because he put a scramble into every position he had. Nogueira would be going for a half guard sweep and Brilz would use his wrestling to create a better position. Nogueira is a very well rounded fighter, but I think the main thing he lacks is a good wrestling base. I think I have him there with my ability to create scrambles. There isn’t too much of a game plan for this fight, just go where it goes. I have some power in my hands so I might be able to take him out that way, or get him on his back, be careful posturing up. I’m at more of an advantage with my wrestling than Forrest [Griffin] certainly would have been… I wouldn’t say an edge, but it definitely gives me an insight into how good they actually are [training with Rodrigo Nogueira on TUF 8]. ‘Big Nog’ would tell me to try to work out of his guard or stop a sweep, and I would have a hard time doing it. If anything, it makes me respect his skills even more. I’m not overlooking anything in this fight. It just makes me work harder knowing what they can do.”
